Are You The Parent Of A JMU Student Looking To Buy A House For Your Son Or Daughter To Live In With Friends?


Are You The Parent Of A JMU Student Looking To Buy A House For Your Son Or Daughter To Live In With Friends?
By Scott Rogers • December 4, 2020
With some regularity, I'll hear from parents of JMU students who are interested in buying a house in Harrisonburg, near the JMU campus, with the intent of having their son or daughter live in the house with friends. Not a bad idea, right? Instead of paying rent for several years, you (and the friends of your son or daughter) can be paying off the mortgage on your newly acquired house! But before you sign a contract to purchase a house, keep this in mind... Most (but not all) single family homes (as opposed to duplexes or townhomes) in Harrisonburg are zoned R-1 or R-2. This limits occupancy of the property to no more than to unrelated people - with one exception which I will mention below. So -- before you go buy a five bedroom house with the idea that Johnny and his four best buds can live there -- you should definitely check the zoning of the property. If the house is zoned R-1 or R-2, it will just be able to be Johnny and his best friend living at the house. But wait -- what if you put Johnny on the deed to the house, making him one of the owners of the house -- would this change anything? Why, yes, it would! While Johnny would not then be able to invite all four of his friends back into the fold, he would be able to have his two best friends living there at the house instead of just one friend. Stated more simply... An R-1 or R-2 property can only be occupied by two unrelated people if the owner is not living there, but it can be occupied by the owner plus two unrelated people if the owner is living there! You'll find all the details here. If you're a JMU parent, looking to buy a house off campus, I'm happy to help with the process -- but don't let Johnny get too many friends excited about the idea until you have reviewed the information above. A few final notes... 1. There are some properties in Harrisonburg that have been in non-conforming use (many unrelated people living in them) since before these current zoning regulations were put in place. Those properties are "grandfathered in" and can be continued to be rented in that (non-conforming) manner until/unless there is a 24 month interruption in the non-conforming use. So, technically, you could buy a house for Johnny and his four friends -- but we'd have to find a property that is grandfathered into that non-conforming use and those properties don't come on the market very often. 2. There are likely some property owners out there, now, who are renting their properties to more unrelated people than are legally allowed to live there. Before you jump to "well if they can do it, then I should also be able to do it" I will encourage you to only consider making an investment purchase that allows you to rent the house in a manner that is legal according to local zoning ordinances. It's not worth the risk to try to skirt the zoning regulations. Receive Updates by Email Recent Articles: There Are Plenty Of Types Of Houses That Exist That Just Are Not Available To Purchase Home Sales By Price Range In The City Of Harrisonburg Are You Compromising On Aspects Of Your Next Home That You Can Or Cannot Change Later? How Much Slower Are The Winter Months In Our Local Housing Market? Rockingham County and New Home Sales Drive Surge in Area Housing Market Find The Balance Between Optimistic And Realistic Home Pricing Room Size Is Difficult To Understand Solely From Real Estate Photos How Much Would You Value Not Having To Prepare Your Home For Showings? One Out Of Four Homes Is Taking Longer Than A Month To Sell Consider The Cost Of Your Planned Renovations When Planning Your Offer
Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@funkhousergroup.com
Based on information from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS® or its MLS, for the period Jan 1, 2000 through Nov 21, 2024 (unless otherwise noted).
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